Are EE committee members allowed to have access to the salary information captured in form EEA4?

If you're a designated employer you must have an Employment Equity Committee. Now the big question is: Should EE Committee members have access to the salary information captured in the EEA4, especially considering that salaries are confidential? Read on to find out what you must do so you can comply with the Employment Equity Act (EE Act).

What exactly is an EEA4 form?

Before we get to whether or not EE committee members must see salary information in form EEA4, let's define what a form EEA4 is.

According to labour.gov.za, employers must complete form EEA4 and send it, together with form EEA2 when they do their employment equity reports.

'This form contains the format for reporting income differentials to the Employment Conditions Commission.'

But is your EE committee allowed to see form EEA4?

The answer is yes. But Marleen Potgieter, a qualified lawyer, specialising in the fields of labour and employment law cautions on the Labour & HR Club, you must ensure that there's a confidentiality clause in the EE Forum (EE Committee) Constitution.

She says you must caution that anyone who speaks out of turn will be disciplined as this is sensitive company information 'which can lead to huge contention and upset in a business.'

You must also create a sub-committee from the EE Forum (EE Committee), so that not everyone is privy to the information, only a core group and you consign them with the same confidentiality warnings, says Potgieter.

'In order to be transparent, you minute that an audit was done of any salary discrepancies and you minute the finding, without going into any detail,' concludes Potgieter.

While your EE Committee has to ensure disparities are rectified, you must ensure that there's some level of confidentiality when it comes to salary information captured in form EEA4. This will help ensure you're in line with the EE Act.

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